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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24923302">My lone late hour</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Beauty and the Beast (2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Admiration, Beauty - Freeform, Commitment, F/M, Loyalty, Not a Story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:20:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>594</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24923302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Why do I envy the Beast?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Beast &amp; Belle (Disney), Beast/Belle (Disney)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>My lone late hour</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspired by Evermore and Christopher Poindexter's quote, “And in the end, we were all just humans, drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness,” which I paraphrase in the second to last paragraph.</p><p>English is my second language.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I admit I was a little skeptical at first, particularly about the cast. Hermione as Belle? In what weird universe did that happen? In the end, she was phenomenal. Her Belle is the embodiment of grace and kindness, beauty and courage – therefore everything fans like myself have come to expect.</p><p>I had my doubts about Dan Stevens as well. I watched “Downton Abbey” for a while, but I was not impressed by his character. I tried watching the 2008’s version of “Sense and Sensibility”, and gave up. I would have watched “Legion”, but it scared me silly. But because of “Beauty and the Beast”, I am now a wiser fan than I was before.</p><p>The look of astonishment and joy when he – as a human – turns around to look at Belle – it gets me every single time. So much happiness bestowed upon one creature – it’s almost more than anyone can bear, or deserve. And don’t get me started on the ending. They're so happy and proud and victorious and beautiful and sexy – and it hurts. It honestly breaks my heart to see such perfection, even if it’s fictional.</p><p>So yes, I am a huge fan of the movie. In fact, it’s my favorite movie of all time. I love the music, the story, the actors, everything. But instead of lifting me up, the story is weighing me down.</p><p>I envy the Beast his happy ending. He's just so… happy! Happy to be human, happy because he knows – he <em>knows</em> that Belle loves him as truly as he loves her. His transformation is the proof of her genuine affection for him, and that's what's beautiful about the story: the happy ending is pure, without a shadow of a doubt.</p><p>If only life were as simple as that.</p><p>I have my own true love story. Most people do. I know what it's like to be tormented, calmed, hurt, moved, comforted by one person – <em>who isn't even there</em>.</p><p>It's terribly romantic, exciting, refreshing, exhilarating, charming (and so on and so forth) to long for someone in that way – as long as you know there’s going to be a happy ending.</p><p>If the rose wasn’t down to its final petal, if an angry mob wasn’t trashing the castle, if a madman in disguise wasn’t intent on killing him – in short, if the Beast had years, even decades ahead, to live out, drowning himself in hope and despair (as lovers do), could he love another? Could he ever learn to love someone else, someone who isn’t Belle? If she didn’t love him back, could he ever be free of his monstrous form?</p><p>The magic of the tale lies in a lie. The story is meant to make us all believe that love follows love. Because he loves her, she must love him back. It’s the only logical thing! It is in the nature of love itself that we love those who love us.</p><p>Is it? Is it really? I defy anyone who says that I love the people that I love because they love me. I love because of who I am, not because of who they are. That is the truth of love. It is always given and never earned.</p><p>The story of Belle and the Beast is so <em>good</em> because it is nigh impossible. Secretly, we all know this to be true. Yet we are all just fools, drunk on the idea that love, and only love, can heal our brokenness.</p><p>My dear reader, I hope that your happy ending – whenever you find it – lasts for evermore.</p>
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